1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gas circuit breaker used for interrupting a short circuit current in a power system. In particular, the present invention relates to a gas circuit breaker having a bidirectional driving mechanism that drives electrodes in mutually opposite directions.
2. Description of the Related Art
A so-called puffer type gas circuit breaker is commonly used as a gas circuit breaker in a high-voltage power system. Using pressure rise of an arc extinguishing gas during interruption operation, the puffer type gas circuit breaker interrupts current by spraying the compressed gas to an arc generated between electrodes. The electrodes are constituted of a driving side electrode, which is driven by an operation device using oil pressure, spring, or the like, and a driven side electrode disposed opposite thereto. Each of the electrodes is constituted of a main contact that forms a main current path during a normal connection and an arc contact where the arc is generated when the current is interrupted.
To improve breaking performance of the puffer type gas circuit breaker, a bidirectional driving method has been proposed in which the driven side electrode, which has been fixed heretofore, is driven in a direction opposite to a driving direction of the driving side electrode.
A bidirectional driving mechanism disclosed in JP-2004-119315-A has an electrode support to which an opposing main contact and an opposing arc contact are fixed, and the electrode support is coupled to an insulation nozzle through a link mechanism, a connection rod, and a connection ring, whereby an opposing main contact portion and a movable contact portion operate in mutually conflicting directions.
The gas circuit breaker is provided with a plurality of finger contact point members, each of which having the opposing main contact and an opposing sliding contact point integrally formed therein. The opposing main contact is formed at a tip part of the finger contact point member, and the opposing sliding contact point is formed in the middle thereof. By using this configuration, there is provided the gas circuit breaker in which the number of parts, a size, and a cost are reduced and reliability is improved.